When soft tissues such as tendons or ligaments detach from bone, it is often necessary to reconnect the structures surgically. Techniques and devices that have been developed generally involve tying the soft tissue with suture to an anchor or a hole provided in the bone tissue. Reattachment with suture involves knot-tying, which can present difficulties especially when operating on small joints, such as those in the hand and wrist.
In addition, certain applications requiring attachment of soft tissue necessitate insertion and passing of suture anchors through curved instruments (for example, curved inserters or curved cannulated guides). Suture anchors which have been developed for such applications are either very short or purposely undersized to allow passage through the curved instruments.
Accordingly, there is a need for a suture anchor that has as much strength as a conventional anchor and yet allows easy insertion and passage through a curved instrument. Also needed is a suture anchor that can be easily passed through either a curved or straight instrument, and that can be employed for reattaching tissue torn from bone using minimal knot tying.